No Duplicate Cam Source Allowed On PC? (Achievable on Mac)

[pixelpusher]

We are attempting to get OBS on powerful new PC to accommodate multiple unique instances of a single Video Capture Device source in a scene, so each instance can be uniquely treated with filters. OBS on the Mac OS has always allowed for this, but OBS on our PC (with Windows 11) seemingly does not. Any duplicate instance is entirely blank, regardless of whether or not it's in the same scene or in an entirely different scene.

Is there a setting on PC someplace we are missing that will restore/enable this functionality?
Is this maybe a problem with OBS on Windows 11 specifically?

Attached is a quick-and-dirty example screenshot of this functionality on Mac OS (2013 Macbook Pro). Any insight / direction is immensely appreciated. We just dropped $4k on this new box, and discovering that this feature isn't consistent in OBS across platforms is a shock to say the least.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WBE]

Are you aware that in the Create/Select Source pop-up you explicitly have to tick the Add Existing option before you can pick one from the list below?

 

[FerretBomb]

Under Windows, most video capture devices (webcams, capture cards, etc) can only be accessed by one process at a time, unless their firmware/drivers have special provisions to allow multi-process access. Magewell and Elgato are the only two that actively do this for the moment, as far as I am aware, and only on some models.

To use the same capture device in multiple scenes, you need to Add Existing.
If you want to apply per-scene filters, add the source to a Group (even just on its own) and add the per-scene filters to that Group instead. It's at most a minor inconvenience, but much more efficient than having the overhead of multiple discrete Capture sources for each one, even on the Linux/Mac side.

 

[pixelpusher]

Magewell and Elgato are the only two that actively do this for the moment, as far as I am aware, and only on some models.

Thanks so much for your fast and very helpful reply, FerretBomb. Is there any additional info you can maybe share that would point me in the right direction regarding which Magewell and Elgato solutions to consider? (ie: should we be considering in-machine cards, cams, software downloads, etc.)? We're not quite sure where to even begin.

If you want to apply per-scene filters, add the source to a Group (even just on its own) and add the per-scene filters to that Group instead. It's at most a minor inconvenience, but much more efficient than having the overhead of multiple discrete Capture sources for each one, even on the Linux/Mac side.

Wow, ok. Thanks also for this suggestion. This certainly does work, and is way better than nothing at this point.

Although, just to note so it's in the current discussion thread:
The work-around of using Grouping/folders to apply a unique/discrete effect on Video Capture Device is still a limitation and feature loss, because you're using up folder functionality on a single effect application alone. Just as an example, we frequently have duplicate cam sources that each have discrete filters applied to them in a Group (folder). This 1) makes managing layout cleaner and easier, but also 2) we can then also in turn apply filters to the grouping itself, allowing us to achieve complex and awesome effects of effects that you can't achieve otherwise (especially fantastic outcomes with things like keying and masking). And OBS doesn't allow for nested Groups that we know of (folders in folders), so you lose the functionality of using a Group/folder because it's being used on up just applying basic filter options as a fix.

As for overhead, sometimes heavier lifting is the only way to achieve a specific solution.

 

[pixelpusher]

Are you aware that in the Create/Select Source pop-up you explicitly have to tick the Add Existing option before you can pick one from the list below?

Yes, we are aware. We are not looking to add an existing source. We are looking to re-add a cam that has already been added (create a new unique instance of the same cam). Please see FerretBomb's reply in this thread for more information. Apparently Windows isn't capable of handling this natively, regardless of the machine's power (while Mac OS can).

 

[konsolenritter]

Yes, we are aware. We are not looking to add an existing source. We are looking to re-add a cam that has already been added (create a new unique instance of the same cam).

Yes. Okay, but why don't you try to go the other way? Sources that are inserted the other way may have their own set of filters, as far as i remember. Isn't that what you want?

 

[pixelpusher]

Yes. Okay, but why don't you try to go the other way? Sources that are inserted the other way may have their own set of filters, as far as i remember. Isn't that what you want?

Please refer to my original post and also FerretBomb's reply. What is exactly in the screen shot I provided, in both layout and in how the assets are concisely organized in the UI, cannot be replicated on a Windows PC natively.

 

[WBE]

Three instances of the same image, all put in their own group. Filters applied to the groups.
The same could probably be accomplished with subscenes.

 

[FerretBomb]

Thanks so much for your fast and very helpful reply, FerretBomb. Is there any additional info you can maybe share that would point me in the right direction regarding which Magewell and Elgato solutions to consider? (ie: should we be considering in-machine cards, cams, software downloads, etc.)? We're not quite sure where to even begin.

I believe most of the Magewell stuff can, the Elgato you'd need to check for as a feature per-device.

Wow, ok. Thanks also for this suggestion. This certainly does work, and is way better than nothing at this point.

Although, just to note so it's in the current discussion thread:
The work-around of using Grouping/folders to apply a unique/discrete effect on Video Capture Device is still a limitation and feature loss, because you're using up folder functionality on a single effect application alone. Just as an example, we frequently have duplicate cam sources that each have discrete filters applied to them in a Group (folder). This 1) makes managing layout cleaner and easier, but also 2) we can then also in turn apply filters to the grouping itself, allowing us to achieve complex and awesome effects of effects that you can't achieve otherwise (especially fantastic outcomes with things like keying and masking). And OBS doesn't allow for nested Groups that we know of (folders in folders), so you lose the functionality of using a Group/folder because it's being used on up just applying basic filter options as a fix.

As for overhead, sometimes heavier lifting is the only way to achieve a specific solution.

Groups are a new development and are convenient. If you need Groups in a scene for organization (and can't nest sub-groups) you can use Scenes instead, and add the scene as a source, applying the filters to the Scene instead.

Again, using ONE capture is also much less overhead on the system. The only reason to use multiple is if you need in-card pulldown for some reason (which is a VERY narrow edge case, admittedly).

 

[konsolenritter]

The version with (even nested) scenes. First pic is the inner scene with transform and hue-changed. This scene was inserted into the one in the middle pic then. Note the color change regarding the star to the upper right, because the scene does effect-on-effect (effect applied first time for the star to the left).

If you want non-recursive effects, just compose (in an outer scene) the other scenes at same tier/level, not nested deeper than one level.